PB’s Very Exciting Diary...!

Pink_Butterfly

Thank you DD2 slept for 15 hours last night :eek: she is still poorly but seems better in herself. As for me, my nose is like a tap but I don’t feel as ill as I did thankfully, just exhausted. I need to take a walk into town to get some more tissues & a few other bits but I really can not be bothered. My body is using all its energy to fight this cold. Still, some fresh air will do us good and it’s not raining for the first time in ages which is a bonus!

Tomorrow my kids will be at their dad’s and so my OH is going to come over for our Christmas Day We won’t be seeing each other on the actual day, so I’m looking forward to spending some quality time with him before all the madness starts! Hopefully my cold will be much better by then.

Pink_Butterfly

Happy Boxing Day!!! :beer: I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas My girls were extremely spoilt, as was I, and we all had a fantastic day! I wish we could do it again! The lurgy has mostly left us aswell, just a chesty cough now, so that was good.

Today I think it’s going to be a case of eating plenty & watching the girls play with their new toys They’re currently colouring with their new arts & crafts kits.

My dad transferred £200 into my account for Christmas I’ve decided to put half towards my debts and the other half for me to do what I want with My debt with the overpayment pot is now £7,784.44 :j Very pleased with how quickly it’s coming down!

Pink_Butterfly

Just updated my spreadsheet so I thought I’d jump on here & discuss! I’ve ordered some pretty blouses, a dress & a pair of jeans with the money that my dad sent to me The dress is for a ruby wedding anniversary party that I’m going to in 4 weeks time. I’ll return any items that are not perfect as I know from past experience that if there’s the slightest thing wrong with them then they’ll just sit in my wardrobe for years

I’ve also had to order some clothes for my daughters as they don’t have many items left that are wearable :eek: Their dad will give me half the money at some point.

I’m thoroughly enjoying the Christmas break & not being at work. I’ve been thinking about what I want from 2020 & I think if things don’t change then I will start job hunting in Spring. The truth is, I’m extremely overworked. The job I do is more than a full-time job, however I’m not prepared to do crazy overtime (been there, done that, never again) and so the pile of paperwork just keeps on growing. It’s very stressful & is a massive reason why I got ill last week (I get mouth ulcers when I’m stressed and run down, and I had 5 of them!!!). I’ve told management many times that they need to recruit a 2nd person but they’re not doing it. It doesn’t exactly give me great job satisfaction when I work my butt off and not see positive results.

There are many things that I love about the company that I work for but I’m not sure it outweighs the bad. I’ve given myself a date, and I will ask myself how I feel on that date, and if I feel like this (or worse) then I’ll know that it’s time to move on.

Today I am child-free, so I’m going to get my lazy bum out of bed in a minute, have a shower, and go to the cemetery with OH to see a very special little lady. Tonight we have dinner plans with my parents, which will cost us nothing as they always insist on paying. We are going to a steakhouse which will be nice I’ll need to go food shopping at some point though, so that I don’t have to go with the girls tomorrow. It’s always easier doing the food shop without children around!

Pink_Butterfly

I had a lovely time at the steakhouse last night with OH and my mum & dad As expected, they insisted on paying, so no cost to me. Bless them. They also asked if they could have the girls over tonight for a sleepover, so I’ll drop them off late afternoon and then probably see OH again.

The food shop I did yesterday was quite pricey but it should be the last one I do this year. If it is then total spends on food/toiletries/cleaning products for December is £158.94 which is pretty good going. It makes the average monthly spend for 2019 £156.70. I reckon I can get this lower in 2020 but it will mean shopping at the dreadful Aldi. I hate going there - the car park is awful. I can walk to it from my flat but I get awful back pain if I stand or walk anywhere for 10 minutes and it’s 100 times worse when I’m carrying bags of shopping Which reminds me, I must book a GP appointment about it soon.

Looking at my spreadsheet, if I can stay strict then I should have my loan cleared by 01/12/2020. And I should be completely debt free by October 2021. It will be tough, and I’m not looking forward to the journey in all honesty but needs must, and it will be nice to say I’m debt free at the end of it all!

Pink_Butterfly

I can’t believe that tomorrow is the last day of 2019! It’s been a rollercoaster of a year for me. I’ve made some amazing memories with the girls, but we have lost some lovely people aswell I’m hoping that 2020 is kinder. Maybe a lottery win?!

Today me & the girls went to the cinema. I used Tesco Clubcard vouchers, so the tickets only cost me £2.05 :j I did buy our drinks & snacks there but I got away with buying half of our usual, so not too bad The film was great and we had a fab time!

We had a bit of a fashion shoot when we got home as all the clothes that I ordered recently had been delivered. Unfortunately ALL of my clothes were either too big or too tight so they’re all being returned. The girls’ clothes were much better, only a dress each to return, so at least it wasn’t a complete waste of time! I have since ordered a top and a blouse for me, so will see what they’re like when I get them

Pink_Butterfly

Happy New Year to you all!!! :beer::j:beer::j
May 2020 bring you good health & happiness

Last night OH treated us to dinner at a popular Japanese restaurant & then we went home to watch Netflix. Perfect. I didn’t fancy going out out... too busy, too expensive & too cold!! :rotfl:

Bad start to the year finance wise. My Microsoft Office subscription has ended, meaning I need to pay £60 to renew I’m lost without my spreadsheet already! So I’m going to have to pay for it. Sigh. It’s worth it though, I mean, I’m sure I’d overspend by a lot more than £60 if I didn’t have my spreadsheet to keep me on track!!

More bad news is that I’ve had to increase my monthly direct debt to my gas & electricity supplier. I was only paying £40 a month but after submitting meter readings yesterday it looks like I’m using £20 a month on electricity & a whopping £50 a month on gas!!! :eek: I do like to have the heating on but maybe I need to reduce it a tad! I’ve increased my direct debit to £50 so will see how I get on with that & will submit another reading on 31st Jan.

All clothes have now been returned so hopefully I’ll see my refunds hit my account soon I’ve also paid my childminder for December (which was more than I budgeted as I can’t do basic maths it seems!!).

Today I’m going round OH’s mum’s house for lunch with the family which should be nice. I’m also going to give my flat a good deep clean. It’s a state and I’m back at work tomorrow (:() so I’d like to get it looking presentable. Really wish I had booked off tomorrow & Friday off work now!

Jox

Happy new year, here's a little tip, if you want to put off renewing Microsoft Office for a while you can download Libre Office, have a look into it, I use it on my laptop, works just like Word

https://www.libreoffice.org/

Pink_Butterfly

Thanks for the tip! I paid for the MS Office subscription shortly after my last post though. Feeling super poor now...I have got some nice things budgeted for this month, but it has left things a bit too tight for my liking!

I survived my first day back at work... just! I was drowning in paperwork as always. I felt so sad last night knowing that the holidays were over, so I decided to book off the next half-term holiday Means I’ve got something nice to look forward to with the girls! 46 days to go :rotfl:

I’ve managed to get a physio appointment for tomorrow morning, which is fab, so I’ll get into work late but I’ve already got an hour banked so hopefully I won’t need to make up much more time. I’ve never had physio before so I’ve no idea how long each session lasts! Hopefully regular visits will mean I can stand or walk for more than 5 minutes without being in agony though

Pink_Butterfly

Can’t believe I missed out the most important MSE news for me yesterday... the monthly loan repayment DD went out. So balance is now £7,398.16 it’ll be in the £6Ks by the end of the month! :j

Pink_Butterfly

I had my physio this morning. Basically I need to make my core stronger so that my back isn’t taking all the strain when I’m standing/walking. I am going to find a pilates class & do some exercises at home every day. You never know, I might end up with a six pack :rotfl:

I did a food shop after work...the first one this year. Sadly I wasn’t in the mood to sit in traffic to get to Aldi so I ended up in Tesco again. Ah well. I then went to my mum’s where my kids already were and she made me a lovely cottage pie for dinner It was very nice, and a rare treat as I hardly ever get to enjoy my mama’s cooking these days!

My MSE journey may take a dramatic turn soon as I’m contemplating moving. It’s definitely not the right thing to do if you’re looking at it from a financial point of view, but from a sanity point of view it’s 100% the right thing. I love my flat, but I do not love sharing a building with noisy people. I’m not 100% sure if I’ll go through with it yet, but I’m definitely considering it. The frustrating thing is is I’m not loving my job either, but I will have to stay put for longer if I choose to move

What a time to be alive eh?! Rubbish at work, and rubbish at home DD2 cheered me up when we got home by giving me cuddles and “penguin kisses” Bless her. DD1 was more interested in the YouTube video that she was watching

My parents think I should buy a property but I wouldn’t get much for my money round here. Plus me & OH want to move in together at some point in the next 2 years (it’s sadly not the right time now, otherwise it would be a no brainier) so renting might be more sensible. But then it feels like throwing away loads of money going down that route!

Anyway, in happier news, it’s Friday, I have my girls tucked up in bed, and I don’t have to go into work for another 60 hours